by Anne Naumann
This last month, the small ($25) Good Food Box I ordered contained the following: one head of Romaine lettuce, four beefsteak tomatoes, two English cucumbers, one head of celery, three Ambrosia apples, two navel oranges, two heads of broccoli, two lbs. of carrots, five lbs. of yellow potatoes, three lbs. onions, and one pineapple.
Check the Upcoming Events article elsewhere in this newsletter regarding the upcoming Good Food Box order and pick up dates. Please keep in mind that if you are ordering via e-transfer to me at [email protected] for the first time, please also send us a follow-up email to [email protected] with your contact information (phone and email) so we can contact you to remind you about the pickup date and the next order date. If you are a new customer, we also need some basic demographics from you regarding how many people your box order will feed: number of adults (18 to 65), youth (0 to 17), seniors (65+), and families. We provide a summary of this information to the Community Kitchen folks for their grant reporting each month.
This past month, I used the pineapple to try to re-create the barbequed pineapple skewers we had one time at a Brazilian restaurant. They turned out pretty well. Cooking pineapple breaks down the acidic enzyme in them that can cause your mouth to hurt when it is eaten raw.
BBQ Pineapple Skewers
Servings: Makes at least 4 servings
Prep and Cook time: Approximately 30 to 45 minutes
Kitchen Supplies Needed: Medium to large sized sharp knife, cutting board, long wooden (or metal) skewers, a baking pan that will fit the wooden skewers, a BBQ or oven baking sheet, large mixing bowl, small bowl.
Ingredients:
• 1 pineapple
• 2 to 4 Tbsp. butter, or canola oil
• 2 Tbsp. brown sugar
• ½ tsp cinnamon
• 6 to 8 wooden or metal skewers
Directions:
• First, place the wooden skewers in the baking pan and cover them with water. Soak them for at least ten minutes before putting the pineapple on them. While they’re soaking you can prep your pineapple.
• Cut the pineapple to remove the brownish greenish rind while leaving as much of the pineapple remaining as possible. I do this by first cutting off the top (leafy part), then cutting off the base. Then, stand the pineapple up, and slice off strips of the pineapple rind until the rind is all removed. You will likely still have brown “eyes” in a spiral around the pineapple. You can cut these out by taking V-shaped slices along the spiral. If some “eyes” remain, it’s not a problem.
• Once you’ve peeled the pineapple, you need to cut it and remove the core, which is harder and kind of woody. Stand the pineapple up, and you should see the round core on the top. Slice the pineapple down next to the core. Continue slicing down on the other sides until the core has been removed. I personally eat the core raw, but you may not want to.
• Once you have the pineapple prepared, cut it into bite-sized chunks. Put the chunks into the large mixing bowl.
• Put the butter (or oil) and brown sugar into the small bowl, and microwave on medium heat for 30 seconds at a time, until the butter is melted, then stir in the cinnamon. Pour over the chunks of pineapple and toss to coat.
• Once the skewers have soaked long enough, poke the skewers through the center of a chunk of pineapple, one at a time, until the skewer is full, leaving a couple centimeters on each end. Continue with the rest of the skewers.
• Place the skewers on the preheated BBQ grill (or in a preheated 400-degree oven on a baking pan), and keep an eye on them, flipping them every two to three minutes on the grill, or every seven to eight minutes in the oven, until they are slightly browned in parts but not burned.
• Serve with ice cream if desired, but I think you’ll definitely enjoy these either way
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